


Sugar, Take Your Time

by treaddelicately



Series: Hold It Together [2]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: (a conversation about), Alternate Universe - No Powers, Established Relationship, F/M, Meeting the Parents, holiday fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-29
Updated: 2020-12-29
Packaged: 2021-03-11 03:01:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,098
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28398108
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/treaddelicately/pseuds/treaddelicately
Summary: Trip's mastillhasn't met his girlfriend, and she wants to remedy that. But first, he has to get up the guts to ask her to Christmas dinner.
Relationships: Bobbi Morse/Antoine Triplett
Series: Hold It Together [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2079840
Comments: 4
Kudos: 5





	Sugar, Take Your Time

**Author's Note:**

  * For [lazyfish](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lazyfish/gifts).



> Sweet angel Al, who has indulged my Tripbobbi nonsense from the beginning, requested **family** from my holiday prompts on tumblr. I hope you enjoy, dumpling!
> 
> This fic takes place in the same universe as my Dousy fic [Take You Home](https://archiveofourown.org/works/26401276), but you do NOT have to read that one first. All you need to know is that this is a no-SHIELD AU where Trip and Bobbi work in Lincoln's veterinary practice. Enjoy!

Being the first person to arrive for work wasn’t something that bothered Trip. He liked being early, liked being able to take his time setting up for the day, going over the schedule for appointments and potential surgeries, getting his brain ready for the routine. Or, as much of a routine as he could expect working in a veterinary office.

No, being first to the office didn’t bug him. But being the last person to leave? That shit got old _fast_. 

“Are you about ready?”

Bobbi pulled her head out of her locker to give him an unimpressed look. “I’ll be ready when I’m ready, Antoine.”

He laughed and leaned against the set of lockers near hers, his hand hooked around the strap of his messenger bag. Waiting around was about the last thing he wanted to do, considering he had cold beer and the latest season of Great British Bake-Off waiting for him at home, but he could put all of that on hold for a few stolen moments with Bobbi. 

Besides, it seemed like a better time than never to start a conversation he’d been putting off for two days.

“So, I was thinking…”

Bobbi closed her locker and slung her backpack onto her back, perking an eyebrow. “That’s always dangerous.”

Trip flashed her the biggest grin he could manage. “Come on, girl. Don’t do me like that.”

“Alright, alright.” She huffed out a laugh. “What were you thinking?”

“About Christmas.”

A hint of trepidation crept into her voice. “Okay, what about it?”

This was it. Like cresting the top of a roller coaster and waiting for the drop, unsure if it was going to be worth all the anxiety before the free fall. Trip rubbed the back of his neck, pushing the words out in a rush before he could change his mind about it.

“I was thinking, maybe you could come have dinner with my family.” He kept his eyes on her face but charged ahead anyway, trying not to read too much into the twist of her mouth or the surprise in her eyes. “We always do our big dinner on Christmas Eve, so you wouldn’t miss anything with your mom and Ben on Christmas.”

“You want me to meet your family?”

The answer to that seemed fairly obvious to him. Six months of dating, and definitely not the secret kind, meant that pretty much everyone knew they were together. At the very least everyone at the clinic, who’d seen them leave together plenty of times and were witnesses to their quick, greeting kisses if they happened to be watching in the break room first thing in the morning.

But just because they weren’t hiding it didn’t mean that Bobbi was comfortable _broadcasting_ it, either. Six months had been plenty long enough for Trip to catch onto her fear of diving headfirst into a real relationship again, but he had been willing to wait. 

He’d suited up from the get-go, a natural diver himself, but patience was something he had in spades. A woman like Bobbi was worth waiting for.

“Ma wants to meet you,” he said quietly. “I thought maybe this would be a good time. You know, get it out of the way?”

Something in her expression was wary, like she was ready to run. He’d straddled the line for a long time of learning when to give chase and when to wait patiently for her to come back, but this felt more like a time when he could keep her anchored. And he liked to think that she trusted him enough for that.

Bobbi’s teeth sunk into her bottom lip, but the fact that she hadn’t turned him down outright sparked some hope in Trip’s chest. “Christmas Eve, though?”

“Hey, look, it’s no pressure.” He took a step closer to squeeze her shoulder, reassuring but also testing the level of tension in her body. There was some give, and she angled herself towards him, which was an even better sign that kicked his smile up a notch. “ All you gotta do is put on an ugly sweater, drink some eggnog, listen to my granddad’s old war stories for a while…”

After a moment, her own smile appeared. “I _do_ like eggnog…”

“See? And I’ll be with you the whole time. It ain’t a big deal, honey.”

“I mean…” Her voice dropped. “It kind of is.” 

There was a layer to her gaze that he’d never seen before, and it took Trip a moment to place it. _Insecurity_. The realization hit like he’d run into a brick wall, spurring him forward to wrap his arms around her and hold her close to his chest.

“Say no and I’ll drop it right now,” he promised into her hair. “I’ll tell Ma that you’ve got family stuff, that it’ll have to wait. It’s okay.”

The silence stretched between them for several seconds and even though Trip was being one hundred percent honest, he was still not looking forward to the disappointing conversation he was going to have to have with his mother about all of this. He started arranging phrases in his head, playing out all of the ways she’d guilt him about it, but a pressure around his waist brought him back to reality.

Bobbi squeezed him again, pressing her forehead against his. “You might have to help me find an ugly sweater.”

“It’s okay, hon— wait, what?”

She shrugged. “I don’t own any ugly sweaters.”

“Wait, really? You’ll come?” She nodded and his smile widened so much that it made his cheeks hurt. “Cause I can handle scrounging up a sweater for you.”

“Oh, I know,” Bobbi grinned, letting go of him to take his hand instead. “I’ve seen the state of your closet.”

“Hey, that ain’t nice!” He feigned a chest wound while she towed him along to turn the lights off, even more pleased when it got a bout of laughter out of her. 

They finished their routine, locking up the clinic and spending far too long kissing goodnight under the lights in the parking lot. Trip thought about pushing his luck and asking her to hop in his car instead when they finally separated, but the words stuck in his throat and instead he let her go, watching her taillights disappear as she headed across town to her own apartment.

Agreeing to spend a holiday meeting his family was a step, after all. And steps were forward momentum. The rest would come, if he could be patient.

And if Antoine Triplett was anything at all, it was patient.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! As always, kudos are appreciated and comments are pored over and loved from the depths of my heart. xoxo


End file.
